The Jill Smythies Award

A medal and £1,000 to a botanical artist for outstanding, diagnostically relevant, published illustrations

Established in 1986 by the late Mr B E Smythies FLS, in honour of his wife, the late Florence Mary Smythies ("Jill"), whose career as a botanical artist was cut short by an accident to her right hand. Awarded to a botanical artist in recognition of excellence in published illustrations in aid of plant identification, with the emphasis on botanical accuracy and the accurate portrayal of diagnostic characteristics.

The next round of nominations for this award will open in May 2025.

Nominees

• The Jill Smythies Award is open to any botanical artist of any nationality or age.
• The nominee cannot, at the time of nomination, be a member of Council.
• The nominee does not need to be a Fellow of the Society.
• Self-nominations are not accepted.

The artwork submitted must be outstanding botanical art that is an accurate portrayal of diagnostic characteristics and an aid to identification. It should include:

• The subject matter may include algae, fungi or plants.
• The submitted work should include two or more items of the same taxonomic group for comparison (not necessarily from the same publication), so there is a diagnostic element to the illustration.
• The works submitted must be published botanical illustrations. In order to assess botanical accuracy, it is important that each illustration must be submitted with the relevant text accompanying it.
• Digital work is eligible.
• Submissions should include a minimum of five examples of the nominee’s work, from at least two publications. These can hard copy, pdfs, or links to Open Access journals They must be accompanied by the relevant text describing/referenced by the illustration.

The submissions should exclude:

• Illustrations that do not portray diagnostic features, such as flower illustrations that are merely artistic or illustrations en masse of seeds or fruit.
• Illustrations of cultivars of garden origin.

Format of submission:

Due to the Linnean Society’s lack of access to many electronic journals, examples of work should be provided either as hard copy or as PDFs, at the candidate's (or nominator's) expense. Please do not send online links to pdfs, unless the journal is Open Access.

Dr Hyewoo Shin

‘Thanks to plants, I have had the privilege of meeting wonderful people, experiencing beautiful things and gaining a deeper understanding of the world. Moreover, I believe this award is a gift from the plants and the people who love them. I will do my utmost to repay their kindness in the future.’

Dr Hyewoo Shin is a plant taxonomist who has collected, classified and described plant species from her native Korea and all over the world. She was inspired to teach herself botanical illustration by referencing specimens and papers, as scientific illustration was not well known in Korea at the time.

Finding inspiration at the Royal Horticultural Society's Botanical Art Show, Hyewoo would later win four gold medals for her work, and three trophies in a row (two Best Botanical Art Exhibits and a Judge’s Special)—the first in RHS history to do so. Hyewoo has contributed significantly to promoting scientific illustration in Korea, teaching students and creating a community.